DOE to 'Cram' Arab-Themed School into Slope Elementary School

The Department of Education seems to have miscalculated when it announced that it will be placing (for at least three years) a new Arabic-themed upper school into an existing Park Slope elementary school building, P.S. 282/Park Slope School.

Parents at P.S. 282 are furious, reports the Brooklyn Eagle. Their school (number one in District 13) will apparently have to give up its music room, library, art room, etc. to make room for the Khalil Gibran International Academy. Khalil Gibran will eventually serve grades 6-12 -- another bone of contention for the parents of the elementary school kids in P.S. 282, who worry about their youngsters sharing the facilities with much older students.

The Brooklyn Eagle reports that Khalil Gibran, slated to open this September, is meant to expose its sixth- through 12th-grade students of all races to Middle Eastern language and culture. Naturally, there has been some hostility to the idea by people who don't seem to know much about its purpose (non religious and non political) and its founders (a lot of Brooklyn Arab groups, interfaith groups, Lutheran Hospital, New Visions for Public Schools and more).

Doesn't seem fair to either school. See more here.